Strings
by Caitiy
Summary: No strings attached – the nature of a great number of relationships between shinobi. But, just because it’s the way most shinobi handle their personal lives, doesn’t make it the best.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.

A/N: Another refugee from The KakaSaku Archive. I did this one as part of a challenge. I believe the prompt was 'Natural Disaster' but don't quote me o that as it was quite a while ago that I wrote this and with the archive gone I can't quite be sure. ^^;; Happy Reading!

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Strings

"Damnit! No strings means _no strings,_ Kakashi!" she exclaimed with exasperation clearly evident in her voice. Sakura eyed the stoically silent man walking along side her on the rocky mountain path before continuing on with her annoyed tirade. "You _can't_ keep doing this to me!" The pink haired woman huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, knowing it wouldn't make a difference, but still feeling better for having the chance to vent at the source of her current aggravation. "You just can't have it both ways; it's not fair to either of us. Either there are strings or there aren't, and if there _aren't_ then you can't go around scaring off or roughing up any of the other men I should decide to date or sleep with period, end of story! No exceptions! You can't expect me to commit to only you if you won't commit to only me!" She shook her head in irritation. "You're just as free to date or sleep with other women. It's not my fault you're not also playing the field! _I'm_ not stopping you!"

She stole another sidelong glance at him – he was unchanged, nose still buried in his precious little orange book. The pink haired woman sighed having known he would react, or rather _not_ react, this way. It just wasn't his nature to discuss these sorts of things and her shouting at him wouldn't change that. She had tried dating any number of men, even sleeping with or rather attempting to sleep with a few, to get some sort of a reaction from Kakashi. Unfortunately, his rejoinder was almost always variations on the same theme: hunt the offending man down and beat him to a pulp or occasionally if she hadn't actually gone out with the man yet, just scare the living daylights out of him to prevent the date from happening. Not the healthiest behavior for him to have considering they were not in any sort of relationship other than friends… with benefits.

Before continuing to berate the stubborn man, Sakura took a moment to survey their surroundings and collect her thoughts. They were on the way back from a relatively easy escort mission. The two shinobi were traveling high through the mountains in the Land of Lightning on a rough path that had been laboriously carved from the mountain itself with a sheer drop on one side and a craggy uneven wall of the stone on the other. The view of the beautiful river valley below them would have been spectacular if she wasn't so distracted by her frustration with the hypocritical man.

The medic took a deep breath; she had been through this with him too many times already, and decided to change her tactics and give it one last real try. "Kakashi… if you want a commitment, you only have to ask you know…" she trailed off wistfully, only partially hoping that he would make some sort of a response. After a moment or two she continued, having honestly not expected him to comment. "I'm not asking for a ring or anything serious, you know. Just an agreement between two adults for mutual exclusivity until such a time should come that we agree it's no longer what either of us want. I really don't think it's too much to ask…"

Sakura lapsed into silence hoping he would have _something_ to say about the matter, regardless of the fact that of all the times she had tried to have different variations on this conversation he had never once felt the need to offer his thoughts on the matter. Again, he stayed true to his silent nature and made no effort to respond as they continued to travel along the narrow rocky path.

Finally coming to a painful decision, she sighed. "Kakashi, this friends with benefits thing just isn't working. As much as I _really_ don't want to give up the benefits… I think we should go back to being just friends…"

Suddenly, she found herself pulled backwards and then pinned firmly up against the side of the path. A flash of fear fluttered through her stomach as she looked up at the larger man flattening his entire body against hers, his expression unreadable. She couldn't imagine what he was doing. Just as she was about to open her mouth to question his strange actions, she heard a low ominous rumble and her eyes widened in real fear – avalanche.

Seconds later, small pebbles, sticks, and dirt started to bounce off the slight overhang above them. The size of the rocks and branches continued to grow until boulders and entire trees were flying over their heads. Unable to actually _do_ anything, she closed her eyes and clung fearfully to the larger man as she listened to the deafening rumble above them, frantically willing for nothing of any substance to hit them. She could feel the blunted impacts as his body was pummeled by some of the debris as the seemingly endless avalanche continued above them. Anxiously, she wished for it to be over and for him to be okay.

After what seemed to be an eternity, her wish was finally granted. The loud roar of the amalgamation of natural detritus slowed and faded with only a couple straggling rocks and branches falling around them. After another couple moments of blessed silence, she carefully cracked her eyes open, trying not to inhale too deeply as the dust had not quite settled, almost terrified at what she may find.

"You… all right… Sakura?" the severely battered and bloody man gasped through the grit still floating around them, obviously in serious pain.

She nodded dumbly, temporarily unable to find her voice, and disentangled an arm to reach up to rest her hand on his cheek in distress. Concern and confusion shaped her facial expression as she finally located her voice. "_Why_?"

More dust cleared around them, making the air easier to breathe, and revealing more of the silver haired man's injuries. He was very clearly _not_ okay.

Kakashi shrugged as best he could with his wounds, fighting hard not to wince at the pain the gesture caused him. "I didn't want another man… not even a medic… to touch you…" he coughed, and she could see darker spots appear on his mask and smell the metallic scent of more fresh blood.

"You _idiot_!" she exclaimed feeling overcome at his simple words. She very badly wanted to pound him for his stupidity, but couldn't bring herself to do so with him in such a severely beaten-up state. Instead, a couple of tears slipped down her cheeks, creating clean tracks through the grime coating her face. "You stupid, _stupid_ man…"

He chuckled at her anger as his strength started to fade. "I don't want… to share. I… want strings…" he sighed as the last of his strength faded and he lost consciousness, slumping onto the woman he had severely injured himself protecting.

Finding herself suddenly trapped under the larger man and the debris piled up around them, she sighed and started the sure to be long process of healing him. He may be an idiot, but he was now _her_ idiot and she wouldn't trade him for anything – though she would have a couple choice words for him once he was healed and conscious, followed, of course, by some of the benefits she had been loathe to try and give up.


End file.
